This invention relates generally to lubricating devices for material handling systems and, more particularly, lubricating devices for monorail and trolley material handling systems.
A monorail material handling system generally consists of an elongated I-beam, or enclosed track, along which a trolley is guided and supported. The trolley includes rollers which travel along the I-beam, and further includes a portion extending generally downwardly from the rollers on which the subject material is supported. The material handling system may include several trolleys that travel along the monorail I-beam, which are driven or pulled by a chain or other flexible linkage. Such monorail trolley systems can be found in many applications, an example being a trolley and monorail system for moving items through the various processing steps.
In order to keep the trolley rollers and chain operating smoothly, at least one lubricating device is mounted along the I-beam, typically on the upper surface of the I-beam along a horizontal section thereof The lubricating device includes a reservoir for holding the oil or other lubricating fluid, and internal electronic and hydraulic components for directing an appropriate amount of lubricant onto the trolley rollers and chain as they pass beneath the lubricating device.
Generally, the location selected at which the conveyer lubricator will be installed is determined by the design of the system and the ease of access to the lubricator. Heretofore, the location has always been selected to be along the top of the I-beam on a horizontal section of the beam. Several nozzles then protrude substantially directly downward from the conveyor lubricator to provide lubricant to the rollers of the trolleys and the drive chain as they pass therebeneath. The lubricant is then directed toward the joints of the chain while the chain is in a straight, horizontal orientation, such that the lubricant is provided when the chain linkages are not moving relative to one another.
While a typical lubrication system, as discussed above, may provide lubricant to the chains, the system may fail to lubricate the joints of the chain such that the lubricant penetrates fully therein. This is especially troublesome in rivetless and bolted chains, such as the commercially available Frost Smooth link and Frost Sani-link chains, manufactured and marketed by Frost Links, Inc. in Michigan, wherein the bolt rotates 360xc2x0 within the joint of the chain, thus requiring additional lubricant around the circumference of the bolt in order to maintain optimal performance and extended chain life. An additional concern with the conventional lubrication systems, is that the system may be positioned along the I-beam or enclosed track such that it is difficult to periodically check and fill the fluid levels in the reservoir. Furthermore, in order to check and fill the levels, which is performed on a generally regular basis, the conveyor system must be shut down to facilitate safe access of the reservoir by a technician.
The present invention is intended to provide a lubrication device which provides lubricant to the chain of a material handling system in a manner which results in full lubrication of the bolts or pins of the chain. While materials are transported along a track or beam of a typical material handling system, the track may have several horizontal sections at different heights therealong. Between two consecutive horizontal sections, the track also has an arcuate vertical transition section which is generally S-shaped so as to provide a smooth curvilinear transition from one height to the next. The lubrication device of the present invention provides lubricant to the chain as it curves or bends through the transitional section in order to lubricate the joints of the chain when they are in their most open position and to lubricate the bolts of the chain as they rotate within each joint.
According to an aspect of the present invention, a chain lubricating device for lubricating chain in a conveyor system comprises a reservoir, a metering device and at least one applicating device for applying lubricant to the chain. The conveyor system has a conveyor track and a plurality of trolleys movable along the track. The trolleys are interconnected by a drive chain. The conveyor track or enclosed track has multiple horizontal sections, at least two of which are at dissimilar heights and interconnected by arcuate transition sections to accommodate movement of the trolleys and chain from one height to the other. The reservoir contains lubricating fluid. The metering device meters the flow of lubricating fluid and is mountable to the conveyor track adjacent to an arcuate section. The applicating device is interconnected to the metering device. The applicating device is located alongside the adjacent arcuate section whereby the drive chain is lubricated while transitioning through the arcuate section.
In one form, the reservoir is positioned remotely from the metering device. The lubricating device includes a pump which is operable to communicate lubricating fluid from the reservoir to the metering device.
These and other objects, advantages, purposes and features of this invention will become apparent upon review of the following specification in conjunction with the drawings.